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Review | Oh Crumbs, Kathryn Freeman

I loved this love story! The chemistry between the fun, bubbly Abby and the reserved, seemingly inscrutable Doug is adorable. I love the contrast between their personalities, and I love how the nuances in both characters’ personalities are gradually revealed by the circumstances they face.

I also really enjoyed how both characters’ family situations create rich and complex subplots that surround their romance. Abby has cared for her younger sisters since age 12, when their mother dies and their father has to work long hours to make ends meet. She’s had to put her career ambitions on hold for her family, and I love how working at Doug’s company, even starting as a personal assistant, gives her the opportunity to demonstrate her skills at coming up with innovative ideas to grow the business. I especially love how supportive Doug is of her talent, and how he helps build up her confidence. And finally, I absolutely love how even though Abby’s responsibilities to her family sometimes cause friction in her rise up the corporate ladder and her relationship with Doug, Freeman never makes it seem like Abby’s family is a burden. Instead, Abby has to learn to balance all her commitments and figure out a way to integrate time with her sisters in her new life.

Doug has a more contentious relationship with his family. He hates his job at his family’s biscuit company, and hates dealing with his overbearing bully of a father. He’d much rather be an artist, and has been indulging this passion secretly in his spare time. I love that Doug is actually experiencing financial success as an artist — so often, the choice between art and business is presented in fiction as one between poverty and wealth, so I like that Freeman shows that it is possible to have financial stability as an artist. I found the drama in Doug’s family to also be relatable, and I very much sympathized with the crap he had to put up with.

Finally, I love how realistic Abby and Doug’s relationship felt. The story confronts head-on the power imbalance issue with the boss/employee dynamic, the way one’s experience with family informs their approach to relationships, and the way couples still need to negotiate complex relationship issues even after they get together.

Oh Crumbs started off a fun, lighthearted romance, and, like any meaningful relationship, gradually revealed more complex emotional nuances throughout. I loved it and highly recommend it.

About the Book

Sometimes life just takes the biscuit …
Abby Spencer knows she can come across as an airhead – she talks too much and is a bit of a klutz – but there’s more to her than that. Though she sacrificed her career to help raise her sisters, a job interview at biscuit company Crumbs could finally be her chance to shine. That’s until she hurries in late wearing a shirt covered in rusk crumbs, courtesy of her baby nephew, and trips over her handbag.

Managing director Douglas Faulkner isn’t sure what to make of Abby Spencer with her Bambi eyes, tousled hair and ability to say more in the half-hour interview than he manages in a day. All he knows is she’s a breath of fresh air and could bring a new lease of life to the stale corporate world of Crumbs. To his life too, if he’d let her.

About the Author

A former pharmacist, I’m now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero.

With two teenage boys and a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes come in many disguises.

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Thank you to the publisher for an advance e-galley of the book in exchange for an honest review.